U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, was on the train but was not injured, his office said.
Tony Adamis — Daily Freeman file

CROZET, Va. >> A train carrying dozens of congressional Republicans, including Mid-Hudson Rep. John Faso, to a GOP strategy retreat struck a garbage truck in rural Virginia on Wednesday, killing one person in the truck and sending several lawmakers who also are doctors rushing to help the injured.

No serious injuries were reported aboard the chartered Amtrak train, which set out from the nation’s capital with about 100 lawmakers, along with family members and staff, en route to the luxury Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. At least two people in the truck were reported to be seriously hurt.

Faso, R-Kinderhook, was “on the train and he is fine,” his office said in a midday email to the Freeman.

Faso later told MidHudsonNews.com that “medical personnel — doctors, members of the House and Senate who are physicians and also members of the Capitol physicians who were traveling with us — rushed out and attended to the injured.”

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“Unfortunately, in the truck there were three people. One was killed, one was seriously injured and another, apparently the driver, was walking around in a stunned, dazed condition,” Faso said.

Other Republican New York congressmen on the train include John Katko of Syracuse, Dan Donovan of Staten Island and Lee Zeldin of Long Island. All tweeted that they were unhurt.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also was aboard.

Lower Hudson Valley Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying he was “praying for all my colleagues and their families, as well as the [person] who has passed.” Faso, likewise, tweeted that his “thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”

The collision took place around 11:20 a.m. in Crozet, Va., about 125 miles southwest of Washington, tearing the truck in two, crumpling the nose of the locomotive and scattering trash alongside the tracks.

Rep. Robert Pittenger of North Carolina said he was standing at the train’s refreshment stand, waiting to be served a soft drink, when he felt “an enormous slam. ... It was a huge jolt. We all hung on to whatever we had.”

He said he looked out the window and saw a big pile of garbage, and it appeared the train had pushed the truck for a few hundred yards.

Authorities gave no details about the cause of the wreck, which took place at a crossing protected by gates, flashing lights, bells and warning signs. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate.

Benny Layne, on whose property the truck landed, said the crossing arms had been known to malfunction often, sometimes not working when a train was approaching, sometimes coming down for no reason. Sometimes, he said, they stayed down for hours.

“A guy was up here just yesterday or the day before taking a look at them,” he said.

Carrie Brown, human resources manager at Buckingham Branch Railroad, which leases the stretch of track and is responsible for maintenance, said she was unaware of any problems with equipment at the crossing.

Florida Rep. Neal Dunn, a former Army surgeon, said he and other lawmakers who are doctors joined passengers who are nurses or paramedics and jumped out with the basic medical gear they had. They broke into three teams to help the injured people in the truck, he said.

“The first gentleman was somebody who had really, really, really devastating injuries. We did try to resuscitate, but ultimately you had to realize it wasn’t possible,” Dunn said. He said another man in the truck was critically injured and a third was seriously hurt.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and his wife, both doctors, were among those who aided the injured. He said he helped a man from the truck who was badly injured.

“My role was quite simple: I picked up his feet so the blood in his feet would go to his heart and his brain,” Cassidy said.

Officials gave varying figures on the number of people hurt, but Amtrak said two crew members and three passengers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Minnesota Rep. Jason Lewis’ staff tweeted the first-term congressman was being checked at a hospital for a concussion.

Others aboard the train reported bumps, bruises and sore joints.

The policy retreat, an annual event, was scheduled to last three days and feature speeches by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. By early afternoon, lawmakers were boarding buses to resume their trip, and Pence still was planning to address them later Wednesday.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was briefed about the accident.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said the crash made him jump out of his seat.

“I looked out the side of the window and then I could see a truck, just in pieces out the side of the window,” Comer said. He said Capitol police officers quickly jumped off the train but came back and asked for any doctors to help.

Among the doctor-lawmakers who assisted were Reps. Michael Burgess of Texas, Phil Roe of Tennessee, Larry Bucshon of Indiana and Roger Marshall of Kansas, according to those aboard.